Sahara Aspects Tour
An unforgettable journey in air-conditioned comfort through dramatic desert landscapes and fertile oasis towns
It's an altogether 'other' experience to see the Sahara, the world's largest desert, at close quarters. Our 7-night tour, led by an expert guide, takes you in air-conditioned four-wheel drive vehicles and you stay in first-rate hotels and a tented camp. The scenery may at times be rugged but the going is smooth. Roads are mostly tarmac – the only exception is the approach to the desert oasis of Ksar Ghilane; this is more hard track but a fairly soft option for a four-wheel drive. Magnificent rocky escarpments, thickets of date palms, a salt lake, waterfalls, market gardens and botanical wonders punctuate the route. You'll also see cave-dwellings, the locations used in the Star Wars movies and old Berber towns where the desert has been tamed. All this is easily accessible from Tunisia’s Mediterranean coast on a round-trip from Djerba. At no stage are you really roughing it. The journeys between points of interest are not over-long. Each night you’ll be staying in one of the best hotels in the area. And you’re never far from civilisation.
For more detailed information and for booking your holiday, call us on 020 8994 1011, or go to our online Booking Form. If you would like to order our brochure click here.
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Departures & Prices (2010)
By Tunisair return scheduled flight London/Tunis/Djerba. Price per person: 21 Mar and 17 Oct, £1395. Single supplements: Mar departure £145. Oct departure £175.
What the price includes
Return scheduled flight from Heathrow to Tunis/Djerba.
Half-board accommodation in Djerba and all meals on tour.
Experienced English-speaking guide throughout the tour.
Air-conditioned 4-wheel-drive vehicles for 5 days.
Combining the Sahara and Archaeology
It is possible to combine this trip with the Roman Tunisia Tour at preferential prices. Sahara and archaeology tours (prices per person): March departure: £2,195. Single supplement: £250. October departure: £2,295. Single supplement: £350.
Itinerary
Our 8-day (7-night) tour from the island of Djerba is exclusive to Wigmore Holidays & Travel in the UK.
Day 1
Departure from Heathrow for Tunis with connecting flight to Djerba and transfer to Sofitel Palm Beach
Day 2
At leisure in Djerba, with dinner and overnight at Sofitel Palm Beach.
Day 3
Early start to visit the Ksour region. Ksour are extraordinary high-nested fortified granaries used by Berber tribes, the original inhabitants of Tunisia. One of the best preserved is Ksar Ouled Soltane, near the old market town of Tataouine. Lunch at first night’s stop, the three-star Sangho Hotel, cleverly designed to blend into its surroundings. In the afternoon, explore the strange lofty troglodyte village of Chenini where Berber is still spoken. Return to Sangho Hotel for dinner.
Day 4
Leave the surfaced road for the oasis of Ksar Ghilane, a tiny speck where the Tunisian Sahara turns into dunes. This is accessible only by fourwheel- drive vehicles. Stay in the comfortable tented camp of Pansea Douar Ksar Ghilane. Optional camel ride over the dunes. Dinner and overnight at Pansea Douar Ksar Ghilane.
Day 5
Depart for Tozeur, on the way visiting the market town of Douz. Lunch in Souk Lahad. Cross the huge expanse of the Chott El Jerid salt lake, where you can walk on its cracked surface and buy crystalline ‘desert roses’. Tozeur is Tunisia’s largest oasis town where the best quality dates, the ‘fingers of light’, grow. Explore the vast threetier garden of the oasis and see the town, known for its beautiful brickwork. Dinner and overnight at the four-star Ksar Rouge Hotel.
Day 6
Leave Tozeur to visit one of the locations where the Star Wars film, Episode 1 The Phantom Menace, was shot. Proceed through wonderful scenery to the mountain oasis of Chebika where you can climb a steep escarpment of fossilised shells above a waterfall for an unparalleled panorama of the desert landscape. On to Tamerza for lunch and in the afternoon visit the canyon of Midès and the cascades. Return for dinner and overnight at the Ksar Rouge.
Day 7
Back to Djerba, on the way visiting Matmata, a lunar-like landscape of underground cave-dwellings which was another Star Wars location. Drop in on one of the surprisingly well-equipped Berber cave homes, and have lunch in a cave hotel. Take the ferry at Jorf to return to the Sofitel Palm Beach Djerba for dinner and overnight on the island.
Day 8
Transfer to Djerba Airport for the flight to Tunis and then on to Heathrow.
The way you travel
No cramming onto a coach. We don’t even pack you aboard our air-conditioned four-wheel-drive vehicles. They have room for 9 but we only take 4 passengers plus driver in each, so you have plenty of space and extra comfort. Being in a vehicle that’s smaller than a minibus or coach means you can get really close to the sites.
First-rate hotels
We’ve made our selection from the best available (though it may, on occasion, be necessary to substitute those mentioned in the itinerary with good alternatives).
Selecting your own departure date
If you are a party of 7 or more, you can choose to start your Sahara Adventure on any day of the week. For smaller parties, we are happy to organise the same at a supplement.
Operation
We require a minimum of 7 people for each tour. Should it be necessary for us to cancel a tour, we will give you one month’s notice and you will either be offered the option of an alternative date or a full refund of all money paid.
Staying on
When you book we can give you a quotation for extending your stay at any of the hotels on this website.
We strongly recommend Holiday Insurance. To arrange cover, simply call tagdirect on 0845 345 3456 or e-mail their sales team at enquiries@tagdirect.co.uk
